I Hate My Job
by BlackWidow2012
Summary: Anna hates her job as a sales associate. That is until her old store manager is replaced by the infamous Ice Queen, Elsa Arendelle, who holds a reputation for being cold and reclusive. On the day she is going to quit she finds herself promoted to the position of Department Manager by the Ice Queen herself. Will that be the only reason she finds to stay at the store? Elsanna G!pElsa
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**Hi, everybody! This is another story that popped into my mind on a whim and I just had to get it started before I left. Needless to say, Frozen is one of my favorite movies of all time and I've had countless ideas about fanfictions for it. The reason I'm writing this one is because I might be able to have it finished before I disappear to Georgia for fourteen weeks and I just needed to write and Elsanna pairing. Here's to hoping you all like it!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Frozen in any way, shape, or form. This is a work of pure enjoyment and nothing else.

**Promotion**

Anna cranked the wheel to left, guiding her light green VW Beetle into its new parking spot on the side of the building, the small car looking even smaller due to the ridiculous size of the parking space. She placed it into park and turned the key back to its farthest setting, killing the engine but keeping the radio on and speakers on so she could continue listening to the music currently playing via auxiliary cable from her phone. Leaning back in her seat, she let out a loud yawn and stretched her arms and legs out as much as she could within the small confines of the cabin. Looking to the right, she could see sunlight beginning to leak through the trees as the sun just barely peaked out from below the horizon.

_'Damn, I am __so__ not a morning person.' _She thought to herself as she picked up the large cup to her right and took a long sip of her café mocha, shivering pleasurably as the chocolaty caffeine drink warmed her insides. Exhaling softly, she glanced over to the clock and sighed in frustration upon seeing that she still had ten minutes until the store's employee entrance was opened. She was unused to the fact that traffic was virtually non-existent in the early morning, so much so that she arrived here much sooner than usual. Sighing, she leaned further back into her seat and took another sip from her cup.

"I'm not even supposed to be here." She muttered to herself, closing her eyes and recalling the events of the past two weeks.

_ "Hey, Anna!" A familiar voice yelled to her from outside the employee lounge. She tore her eyes off of last night's rerun of American Ninja Warrior to see her best friend, Kristoff, striding over to her with his hand in the air._

_ "What is it, Kris," She asked. "Cause it better be important. The Catanzaro run's about to come up and, wait…shouldn't you be on the floor right now anyway?"_

_ "I ran out of price tags for the printer and had to grab a new roll." He said, pulling out a new roll of tag paper for emphasis. "Anyway, that's not important. What is important is that I just overheard who they're replacing Weaseltown with."_

_ Anna's back straightened and ears perked at that. There had been rumors circulating all month that Weselton wasn't going to be with the store much longer. They had only been confirmed just yesterday when the small, toupee`-wearing man had announced it to all the present staff._

_ "Wait. Don't you mean who he's being replaced by?"_

_ "Nope." Kristoff said smugly, crossing his arms. "That speech Store Manager Hairpiece gave yesterday was just an attempt to save face. He isn't leaving of his own accord, Executive is full-out replacing him!"_

_ "Serves him right." Anna huffed. "He's a horrible store manager anyway. So who is it?"_

_ "The Ice Queen." He said simply, containing his smirk. Anna, on the other hand, almost fell out of her seat at the news._

_ "You gotta' be shittin' me." She said, eyes as wide as saucers._

_ "Nope. They're really sending her here."_

_ "Damn." Anna said, running a hand over her head. Everyone knew who the Ice Queen was. Elsa Arendelle, the prodigy of Oakens Inc., an expert store manager who was sent to failing branches to try and pull them out of the mud; which theirs had definitely begun sinking into a long time ago. She had a reputation within the company for having a cold-hearted demeanor that was border-line reclusive, so much so that some in the journalism world had ventured to speculate that she was a high-functioning autistic. The only reputation she held that overshadowed that was the fact that none of the stores she had ever been sent to had failed; in fact, most of them had downright prospered after she arrived. Because of all that, her name was more recognized than the CEO's; which was unbelievable since it was his damn name in gigantic letters on the front of the store!_

_ "I know. Crazy to think she's actually coming here." Kristoff said, before looking down at his watch and jumping slightly. "Shit, I need to run or my DM's gonna' start looking for me. Bye!"_

_ Anna watched him go as he left the lounge with a small smile on her face. That smile disappeared as he turned the corner and disappeared down the hallway. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she was currently working on her resignation letter. They were both each other's best friend in the store and it was going to kill him when he learned she was going to be leaving. She was going to have to see his hurt face eventually, but she was hoping to put that off for as long as possible._

_ After that, the news of the Ice Queen's imminent arrival spread like wildfire and reactions ranged from nervousness to outright fear of the legendary figure. Other than that, nothing interesting happened until the day of her actual arrival the next week. Weselton gave a small goodbye speech the day before, filled with the usual bullshit about how 'it was an honor to work with you all' and 'I'm going to remember my experiences forever'. _

_She wasn't scheduled the actual day she arrived, but some people who weren't scheduled to work that came in anyway so they could hear what the Queen would say. According to them, and Kris, her introduction was smaller and more banal than Weselton's goodbye…if that were at all possible. She merely gave a small greeting, her name, and how she was going to enjoy working with them all before giving a goodbye and disappearing into her new office. Past that, she lived up to her reclusive reputation and nobody really saw her after that, other that the assistant managers of course. It wasn't until Friday that the entire boat was rocked hard enough to send everybody to the asses._

_It was ten minutes until the store closed down for the night and Anna was putting CD's back in their regular places, occupying time until she could clock out when she felt a tap her shoulder. Turning around, she saw it was her blue-clad Assistant Manager for that quarter, Gene._

"_Hey Anna, could I talk with you for a minute in the back before you leave?" He asked. Even though he was originally from India, his American accent was flawless and his voice sounded amazingly like Robin Williams, which had been the cause of many amusing impressions._

"_Sure Gene." She said. "Let me just get something from my locker first, okay?"_

"_Of course, just meet me in my office. The door will be open." He said, before walking off. She followed him for a bit before reaching the backroom and turning right for the lockers while he turned left. She quickly opened it and grabbed her hoodie and purse. Donning them, she reached back in and pulled out the sealed envelope that carried her resignation letter. She then closed her locker and made her way back towards Gene's office. The door was open just as he said it would be, but she knocked softly anyway before entering. Gene had his back towards her and looked to be typing up and email._

"_Go ahead and take a seat while I finish this up." He said without turning around. Starting to feel slightly nervous she grabbed the only other seat in the room, a high-backed leather roller with armrests much like Gene's. She fiddled with the envelope as he finished up the email and clicked the 'Send' button. Closing the screen, he spun around to face her and his eyes immediately fell upon the envelope she was playing with._

"_Is that what I think it is?" He asked simply._

"_Yeah." Anna said, scratching the back of her head nervously. "I mean, I have talked to you about quitting before and I wasn't like I was planning to stay here forever. It's not like I don't enjoy working her though! Well, I mean, I don't particularly enjoy it…but it's not the worst job I've ever had either! I really like working with most, um, some of the people here…and you! You're great to work with! It just that the pay really isn't enough and I kind of need money to live, you know? Wait, of course you know people need money to live; you've been alive a lot longer than I have so of course you know that…not that you're old, or anything! You're still young-looking…I mean young! You're still a young guy! I'm rambling aren't I? I'm just going to shut up now and let you talk." She finished, looking down at the floor and turning beet-red in embarrassment._

"_Well, thank you for the compliment…I think." Gene said, used to Anna's ramblings after being subject to them for the past few months. "As for that resignation, though, you might want to hold on for a while longer."_

"_What?" Anna asked, looking up at him with a questioning expression. "Why?"_

"_Because," He said, folding his hands on his lap. "You're being promoted to Department Manager."_

Anna sighed again, looking over to her glove box which still held the resignation letter she never turned in. She hadn't been the only one to have her life turned upside-down over the weekend. Judging from Facebook, Twitter, and word-of-mouth, at least half of the people she worked with had been told that they were no longer employees on that day; whether it be face-to-face or over emails/phone calls. After that the store had been closed for the entire weekend for some mysterious reason.

'_Probably to give people like me some time to acclimate.'_ She thought to herself as she turned to car fully off and removed the key before getting out. Apparently, a good portion of the department managers had been amongst those who were relieved of duty which lead to many unexpected promotions like the one she had received. Upon returning home that night she found an email detailing her new responsibilities as Department Manager, the new days and hours she worked, and here new pay; the last one being the reason why she was now walking to the employee entrance without a resignation letter in hand.

Shivering slightly at the biting early-winter air, she stuffed her hands deeper into the front pocket of her hoodie and waited for the door to open. Not ten seconds later, the lock unlatched and the door opened to the first of the overnight staff leaving for the morning. Nodding to a few that she knew, Anna quickly made her way inside and through the throng of the rest of the now off-duty overnight staff and towards her new locker. Looking back, she saw that nobody else was walking in her direction, meaning she was the only day-time employee here for now. Truthfully, she didn't have to arrive as early as she did. It was still an hour until the store opened for customers and it didn't take that long to open a department. Still, she had wanted to make a good impression since receiving a first-hand view of what the Ice Queen was willing to do.

Stuffing her hoodie and purse into her locker, she strode over to the time-punch and swiped her badge through the reader to clock in. Seeing the "TIME PUNCH ACCEPTED, DM ANNA" message, she clipped her badge to the collar of the purple polo she was wearing and made her way out to the floor. Straightening out her uniform as walked she failed to notice the body coming around the corner and ran straight into them, sending her to the ground with an "oomph".

"Oh my, are you okay?" a feminine voice said from above her.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Anna said, rubbing her backside before looking up at the person she collided with. "My ass is pret…!" Her sentence immediately cut off when she looked up at the woman standing above her. She was dressed in a dark-blue striped pantsuit with a purple silk tie, the colors contrasting with her flawless porcelain skin and platinum blonde hair done up in a tight bun. Her eyes were a striking ice-blue and there were a small number of pale freckles that ghosted across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. While all of that was stunning, the one thing that held Anna speechless was the ID badge on her lapel that read 'Elsa Arendelle. Store Manager."

"I'm sorry, your ass is what?" Elsa asked, looking down at her quizzically.

"Nothing!" Anna blurted out fearfully, realizing she had just said 'ass' to the Ice Queen herself. "It's nothing, my ass is perfectly fine…! I mean _I'm _perfectly fine. My ass has nothing to do with…gah! I'm going to shut up now." She finished, staring down at the ground as he face grew deeper and deeper shades of red; almost certain that she was about to fired right on the spot.

"Well, if you're perfectly fine I would suggest not staying on the ground for too long." Elsa's voice said. Anna looked up slowly to see a white hand reaching down to help her up. Blushing ridiculously, Anna took the offer and let herself be pulled off the floor with surprising strength. Now on her feet, she brushed out any wrinkles that had formed on her uniform before looking up at the woman in front of her.

"Thanks." She said nervously, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Sorry for running into you like that. I should've been looking where I was going."

"Nonsense." Elsa said. "It was as much my fault as yours. I hadn't expected anybody to be back here this early. It is good to see employees taking such an initiative."

"Thanks." Anna said again, scoring one up to good impressions. "I'm Anna, by the way."

"Ah, yes." Elsa said, glancing down to her ID badge. "You're the new Music Department Manager, aren't you?"

"Yep, although I'm not sure why. I mean, they were plenty of other people who could probably do a better job than I'm going to." Anna said, looking down at the floor.

"Preposterous." Elsa replied, making Anna look back up at her. "I wouldn't have given you the position if I thought someone else could do it better."

"Wait, _you_ were the one promoted me!?" Anna said, her jaw almost dropping in disbelief.

"Absolutely." Elsa replied, her face not changing in the slightest. "You were clearly stood out as the best choice during my observations. Who did you think did it?"

"Well, honestly I thought Gene did…wait, you were observing us!?"

"Of course I was. What did you think I was doing all last week?"

"I don't know." Anna said, once again looking down and rubbing the back of her head. "Like, store-manager, business-type, uh, stuff." She said lamely.

"Well, I was doing that. But I was also observing all of the employees throughout the week to see who needed to be let go and who deserved to be promoted. And, even though Gene did recommend you for the promotion, I would've done it had he not."

"Really?" Anna asked, surprise etched deeply into her features.

"Really." Elsa replied. "From what I've seen you are a hard worker and dedicated to the tasks you are given. Speaking of which, you may want to begin opening up your department. I have a feeling it's going to be a busy day today."

"Yes, um, ma'am. And thank you." Anna said, almost giving a mock salute before rethinking the idea. Elsa gave her a small smile and a nod before walking off to her office. Anna watched her go, eyes lingering for a little longer than was appropriate before shaking her head and turning around and making her way out onto the floor. Expecting the store to be the same as it had been when she left last week, she came to a complete stand-still in total shock at what she saw before her.

_'So that's why it was closed all weekend.'_ She thought to herself as she looked out into what could only be described as an alien world. Before, the floor had been yellowing slightly from multiple years of use without a proper and thorough cleaning due to Weselton's stinginess. Now it was a shining, pristine white with a shimmering gloss that proved evidence of a brand-new cleaning and waxing. Many of the support pillars that had had flaking paint or rust spots had been cleaned and repainted and it was obvious that each of the fluorescent lights in the store had been replaced with top-of-the-line LEDs. Venturing out into the store, Anna could also tell that each and every one of the removable merchandise shelves had been replaced with newer, cleaner, undented shelves.

_'This is ridiculous!' _She thought herself as she made her way to the electronic employee message screen in her department. They were the only new thing Weselton had sprung for, realizing that adding them would reduce the amount of time he had to spend actually interacting with them.

_'No wonder Elsa has such a record with reviving stores, this looks fucking awesome now!_ _And who the hell was I even talking to? Everything I've heard about her depicted her as some sort of reclusive enigma that barely talked to people and worked them to the bone…but she was just downright friendly to me!? Maybe all those rumors are wrong?' _Anna thought to herself, smiling as she swiped her badge to open the message screen and navigated through it to the duties for the day. Her smile dropped and all thoughts of misleading rumors fell out of her mind as she looked upon the mountain tasks that littered the screen. There was _at least_ twice as many as she had ever seen before, all ranging from a complete reorganization of how the CDs were stocked to training the new employees coming in today…all of them assigned by Elsa.

"A feeling?" she said out loud, remembering what Elsa had said about it being a busy day. "She damn well had more than a feeling! How the hell am I supposed to do all of before we close today!? At least Fiona still here though, that'll help." She sighed, glad that one person in her department who knew how things were done hadn't gotten fired over the weekend. Inhaling deeply and thanking herself for the foresight to drink a large amount of caffeine before arriving, she set to work opening up the department and getting started on the tasks.

Before too long, the other department managers, most newly promoted, arrived and began opening their own departments; each one receiving a list of tasks as long as hers and bemoaning them just as she had done. Almost too soon, the store opened up for customers and people began walking up and down the aisles looking for things they either needed or wanted badly, slowing everybody down considerably. Anna could barely keep up, trying to get through as much of the tasks as possible while simultaneously trying train the new members of her department and stopping every two minutes to address customers and their various questions/issues. She ended up having to push the training onto Fiona so she could focus solely on the rest of her duties.

As the day went on, the list slowly began to grow smaller. Anna almost collapsed in relief when her lunch break came, swiping her badge and heading to the in-store Subway. She scarfed down a six-inch Spicy Italian cold-cut and a Barq's root beer before heading back to the lounge to enjoy whatever remained of her hour-long break. However much remained, though, it ended much too soon than she and she quickly made herself a coffee with Hot Cocoa mix and some refrigerated hazelnut creamer; gulping it down before clocking back in for the back half of her shift. Despite how hard she was working at it, a third of the list still remained uncompleted by the time her shift ended and she was forced to leave it to Fiona and the rest of the new recruits whose shifts hadn't ended yet to attempt to complete it.

The traffic on her way home was hell and by the time she got to her apartment her mind felt drained and she could barely find the motivation to turn on the TV before flopping down onto her couch in relief. She felt like going straight to sleep even though it was only about five twenty in the afternoon, but beat the feeling down knowing that doing so would just mess up her circadian rhythm and make her feel worse. Instead, she turned on her Xbox One and used the voice commands to get to Netflix, hoping to drown out all thoughts of her day, and especially her new store manager, in the seventh season of Doctor Who that she had yet to see. Little did she know, across the city, a certain blonde was trying to do the same thing to thoughts of her.


	2. Ice Skating

**Author's Note:** Holy shit, people! In my entire time on this site I've never seen a reaction quite as big as the one this story is getting! Because of that I now find myself spending a lot of my free time thinking of ideas for the story and writing it out. Just a warning, Belle will be in this chapter but there will be no Belsa or Banna. I repeat! There will be **NO** Belsa or Banna! It's my aim to try and mention at least one or two Disney characters each chapter. Speaking of chapters…here's to hoping you enjoy this one! Reviews are greatly appreciated!

**Ice Skating**

"Have a nice day, ma'am." Anna said, smiling and nodding her head to a mother who had been looking for a CD to give to her daughter for Christmas. She knew what bands her daughter liked but wanted to get her an album from a band she didn't already have. Unfortunately she didn't know what bands played the type of music her daughter enjoyed. Anna only had to glance at the list before knowing exactly which album the woman should buy, guaranteeing her that her daughter would love it.

"You too dear. And thank you so much." She said, pulling out another list as she walked away towards the Entertainment section to buy a game for her son. Anna waited until the woman disappeared from view before whipping out her phone and shooting a text to her now second-favorite person in the store.

_"Heads up, Olaf. There's a woman in a red blouse heading your way to buy a game for her son. She has no idea what she's doing."_

Pressing send, she closed the screen and was about to drop the phone back into her pocket when it binged to tell her she received a text. Reopening the screen, she touched the message app to see Olaf had already texted her back.

_"No problem. I'll start her off with CoD: Ghosts, Dead Rising 3, and AC IV: Black Flag. Maybe I should throw in some T rated games too? Madden and Kinect Sports Rivals should do. Thanks for the warning."_

Anna chuckled, always amazed at the speed the seventeen year old could text at. He was one of the new hires from last month and, despite being a little too childish, he had quickly become the Entertainment section's best employees; having a near inexhaustible knowledge of everything technological, from computers, to game consoles, to phones, to earbuds!

_"All those are Xbox One games. What if her son has a PS4? What then?" _ She texted back, giggling slightly as she sent it. This time she didn't even bothering closing the screen, knowing he would respond within the next few seconds. Just as she thought this, Olaf's new text showed up with a _'bing'_.

_"Anyone who's smart has an Xbox. And not all of them are for the One, some of them have 360 versions. Wait, red blouse spotted. Gotta' go complete the mission. Bye."_

Anna giggled again at his response before closing the screen again and slipping it back into her pocket without any interruptions. Checking her watch, she saw there was still an hour left until the employee meeting. She would've used her phone, but the store had given them all some pretty nice employee watches and it as an effort for them all to seem more professional and using it had become second-nature to her now. For about the thousandth time that day, she wondered what the meeting would be about; it was obviously something amazing, judging by the ecstatic look Gene had on his face when he told her about it this morning. She had tried to glean the information form him, but he was being very hush-hush about it, saying it was a secret and all that.

She snapped out of her ponderings as another customer came over to her for help, much in the same situation as the woman in the red blouse. She quickly identified another album and led the man over to where it was, handing him the CD with another 'Have a nice day' farewell. Watching him leave as well, she thought about how much she had come to enjoy working in the store over the past month. All the reasons she had for previously wanting to quit had disappeared. In fact, if she thought about it, there was only one aspect that she could say she hated about her job. Elsa.

Well, hate was a strong word. Hate was how she felt when Weselton was in charge, dislike was a much better word to describe her feelings towards Elsa's leadership than hate. Weselton had one of the biggest superiority complexes Anna had ever seen and, as a result, he believed he had no need to interact with any employees other than his assistant managers due to his "higher status". Elsa's approach to leadership was different, yet somehow the same. No one ever saw her on the sales floor itself, but she still interacted with the assistant managers and department managers through one-on-one meetings held in her office. Sometimes she'd even have a meeting with a sales associate, although those were rare. The only problem that Anna had with Elsa was that she never, once, interacted with her.

In the entire month since the store had turned a corner, she could only count two times in which she actually had any form of interaction with her platinum blonde store manager. The first being when she had ran into her on her first day as department manager and ended up flat on her ass. The second occurred a week and a half after that, when she managed to corner her in the early morning and present an idea she had about displaying some of the newer albums they were due to get. Elsa had seemed distracted the entire time though, only giving one-word answers and looking anywhere but at her. She eventually got the hint and dropped the topic, leaving to return to the floor. After that she hadn't seen hide or tail of her, leading her to believe that she had done something (or was doing something) to make Elsa dislike her.

_'Well, she definitely living up to the Ice Queen name.'_ Anna thought to herself in a bitter tone. She shook the thought off quickly, though, and set back to work on her duties for the day. The daily list had grown slightly smaller since the first week she had become department manager and, while the tasks were still as tedious as that first day, everybody had grown acclimated to them and were leaving at the end of the day with only a few miscellaneous duties left uncompleted. As much as she disliked Elsa's leadership, it was definitely getting shit done. The slight remodeling that had been done did wonders to change the atmosphere of the store itself and, combined with the daily cleaning duties in every department, brightened the moods of employees and customers alike. As a result, more people became attracted to the store and became returning shoppers. Many people swore the store's clientele had at least doubled since then. Anna was currently busying herself with one of the said cleaning duties, cleaning the glass on one of their display cabinets, when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Yes?" She asked, a smile on her face as she turned to address the customer. That smile dropped immediately when she saw who was standing before her.

"Hey there, Anna." Said a tall man with auburn sideburns large enough to turn Hugh Jackman green with envy.

"Hans." Anna said lowly, venom practically dripping off the name as she said it.

"Now, now. There's no need to be uncivil. A pretty voice such as yours shouldn't be tainted with such negative emotions." He said, grinning flirtatiously at her.

"Cut the crap, Hans." Anna said, crossing her arms in disgust at his crude attempt to flirt with her. "Either buy something or get out, 'cause in case you haven't noticed, I'm working right now and don't have the time to deal with you." Hans smiled at that, reaching behind himself and grabbing a random CD without looking. He pretended to examine the artist on the front of the case before speaking.

"Funny thing, Anna." He started, flipping the case over and pretending to read the songs listed on the back. "My father and I were scheduled to have dinner at _Le Restaurant Fantaisie _in the city on Sunday. Unfortunately, he's now unable to attend due to some business complications that have arisen. This leaves me with an open seat in the reservation and I just had a feeling you'd be interested in occupying it." His attention was now fully focused on her, his eyes giving her the most disgustingly lecherous gazes she even seen from a man. She looked around for a means of escape, already tired of dealing with him, before her eyes fell to her watch; she felt her heart soar when she saw there was only ten minutes left until the meeting.

"I've got to go, Hans." Anna said curtly, turning to leave without answering and beginning to walk away. She was stopped, as an arm appeared in front of her to block her off, though. She turned back to Hans and saw that he had become closer to her than before; much too close for her comfort. She attempted to back away, only to stop as her back hit the glass panel she had been cleaning only moments before.

"You know, Anna." He said slowly, his voice taking on a slightly darker tone. "When someone asks you a question, it is very_ rude_ to leave without giving them an answer." Anna was too scared to reply. Hans had never gone this far in his constant passes at her before and she had no idea how to handle the situation. Luckily for her, someone else did.

"There you are, Anna." A familiar voice said from down the aisle. Hans immediately backed away, destroying the close proximity entrapment he had on her. Now free, she looked over to see none other than Elsa striding down the aisle towards them. "The meeting is taking place in six minutes."

"Excuse me." Hans said, his own voice now containing a small bit of venom as he failed to notice the ID badge on Elsa's lapel. "In case you hadn't noticed, Anna here was in the middle of helping me to find something." Anna was about to protest, about to tell Hans to shove a cork in his ass and tell Elsa what had really been going on. To her surprise, though, Elsa beat her to the punch.

"Well I'm sorry, sir." She said, now turning to look up at Hans. "But my department manager here has a rather important meeting that she really must be present for. Now, as store manager I would gladly assist you in finding whatever it is that you are looking to buy. That is, unless you aren't actually looking to buy something at all."

The whole time Elsa's face had remained impassive, holding the courteous smile that was expected from a store manager. Under it though, Anna could sense the slight veiled threat that she had just delivered. Hans, now seeing the ID badge and realizing exactly who it was he was talking to, let a scowl develop on his face before backing down and turning around; quickly striding away from them and disappearing into the store. Anna let out a tense breath she hadn't realized she was holding before looking over at Elsa. If she hadn't arrived when she had, she wasn't sure how far Hans would've gone. She was about to offer a thanks, but Elsa was the first to speak again.

"Three minutes until the meeting, Ms. Summers." She said, only giving her a glance before turning on her heel and taking off in the opposite direction as Hans. Anna could only stand there, dumbfounded at Elsa's abrupt exit after what had just transpired.

_'Figures.'_ Anna thought bitterly, unfreezing herself and heading to the employee lounge. _'What else was I expecting from the Ice Queen?'_ Still, even though she felt offended by Elsa's ridiculous attitude towards her, she could help but let a small smile escape at how she had defended her. Everybody in the city new about Samuel Isles and his thirteen sons, even Elsa had to…despite the fact she had only been in the city for five weeks now. Barely anyone ever talked negatively to them, and those who did could usually expect to find themselves falling on hard times afterward; this was why she had been having to deal with Hans' unwanted advances alone for the past nine months. And yet, there Elsa had been, standing up for her like no one else had as if Hans were nothing more than a lowly mortal. Because of that, she couldn't stop thinking about the blue-eyed store manager until she reached the packed lounge and started looking for a seat.

"Anna, over here!" Kristoff's voice called out. Looking over, she saw him waving to her and gesturing to an empty seat he had been saving for her. Grateful for his foresight, she wove her way through the crowd and sat down next to him. Just like her, he had been promoted to department manager of the store's outdoor section. He had been ecstatic to learn of the news, so much so that when he had been riding in the passenger seat of her car his knee collided with the glove box and unleashed its contents as they were heading to a local bar to celebrate. It was then that he had learned of her now-extinct plans to quit. At first he had been hurt to find Anna had been planning on leaving him alone at the store, but quickly got over it when she told him that was before she had been promoted.

"Thanks, Kris." She said, pulling the seat closer to the table. "I owe you one."  
"You always say that but you never pay me back." He said, putting his hands behind his hand and leaning back in his seat.

"What do you mean!?" She asked indignantly. "Of course I do!"

"Suuuure." He said, drawing the word out for emphasis before changing the subject. "So what do you think this meeting's about?"

"Beats me. Pay attention and maybe you'll find out." She said, gesturing to the front where the assistant managers were beginning to assemble. All the idle chatter died down as the six people gathered in the front of the room, discussing something in a small huddle before separating with large smiles on their faces. Out of all of them, it was Gene to step forward to make the announcement.

"Alright everyone," He started off, his hands clasped in front of him. "We'd like to thank you all for attending this impromptu meeting, but this morning some wondrous news was delivered to us and we've made a decision based upon it that we think you'd all like to hear. Normally the store manager would be the one to make this type of announcement, but she is unfortunately caught up in an important business call right now so it has been left to us to make it."

_'Business call?'_ Anna thought in confusion. _'But she just saved me out on the floor a few minutes ago. What kind of important business call comes in in that amount of time?' _She would've liked to ponder on the subject more, but was brought out of her musings bythe sound of Gene's voice starting up again.

"Now we understand that the last month has been hard on you all. The shift in management, unexpected promotions, and an almost complete change in staff. Add that all together with start of the Christmas season and you could say we've definitely all been put through our paces at least three times over." Everybody chuckled at that, nodding their heads in agreement.

"But," Gene continued, pausing for dramatic effect. "This morning we received news that, in one month, we have jumped from being the least profitable to the second-most profitable store in the state!" At this he threw his hands into the air and the rest of the assistant managers behind him began clapping their hands. Everyone followed suit, amazed at the fact that they had made such a jump in such a short amount of time. Some started whistling to add to the noise while others shouted out 'Yeah!' and "Woohoo!' Gene let this play out for a bit before signaling everyone to quiet down. Once the noise level returned to normal he continued with his speech.

"This was only possible because of all of you who stepped up to the plate and delivered through this difficult time. Because of this, both the Elsa and the all of us assistant managers have come to a unanimous decision to reward all of you!" Chatter immediately erupted at this, but soon died down as Gene once again made the gesture for everyone to quiet down. "And so, this weekend being the last before we break for Christmas, we have managed to book the entire Corona City Ice Skating Rink for the whole of Saturday for you all to enjoy for free!" Everybody erupted into cheers at the announcement, ecstatic at the idea of a free party. The only one who wasn't cheering was a certain twin-braided redhead, whose eyes were wide open in complete fear.

"You know, you didn't have to come if you're this scared of ice skating." Kristoff said to her as she stared in apprehension at the rental ice skates the woman behind the desk had handed her.

"I know." She said, as she followed him to the benches where they could put them on. "But you know how much I love parties! It's not like I can just stay at home!"

"Of course you could." He said, taking a seat on one of the benches and pulling his shoes off. "But then you'd be lonely loser laying on your couch and lamenting the fact that all your friends are out having fun while you're doing nothing but being bored in your apartment."

"Exactly!" Anna exclaimed, taking off her own shoes. "And then it would become a trend for me and I'd end up staying home all the time and not going anywhere fun until I end up alone in my mid-forties with thirty-seven different cats all named after random musicians being the only things to keep me company for the rest of my lonely life!" She finished. Kristoff had actually stopped in the middle of lacing up one of his skates to stare at her in surprise.

"Well…I wasn't going to take it that far, but it's definitely a possibility!" He said.

"Thanks." Anna said sarcastically. "Besides, maybe this time I'll actually learn how to do this."

"That's the spirit!" Kristoff exclaimed, giving his laces a final tug before looking over at his companion's now shoeless feet. "Uh, Anna? You do know that skates go on your feet right?"

"Yeah." She said, a blush slowly growing on her face. "But I don't think I know how to."

"Ah," He said, understanding dawning on his face. "Well I really have to use the bathroom right now, sooooo…" He trailed off, looking around before his eyes landed on an unoccupied employee. "Hey buddy! My hopeless friend over here needs some help with her skates!" He yelled, gaining the attention of not only the employee but five of their co-workers in the process. Anna's blush only deepened as she made their way over to them.

"You need help, miss?" She asked politely, giving a customary smile.

"Damn right she does!" Kristoff answered, clapping the girl on the back before looking down at her. "Now you be a good girl while I run off to the bathroom, got it?"

"Go to hell Kris." She said, causing him to smirk before heading off the restrooms behind him.

"Seems like a nice guy." The employee said to her, making small talk to lighten the mood.

"He's an asshole." Anna said with a smile. "But at least he's not a douchebag like most guys I know. Now if you could help me get these damned things on my feet?"

"Sure thing." The employee said, kneeling down and loosening the skate's laces before slipping them onto her feet. "So are you two together?"

"What!?" Anna asked in surprise. "Well…I mean…we tried something out a while ago, but it just didn't feel right so we decided to just drop it."

"And you guys are still friends?" She asked, almost finished lacing up the skates.

"Well, yeah. We only went on one date, but it was uncomfortable for us both so we just agreed that it never happe…Ow!" She exclaimed as the laces were pulled tight. The girl immediately backed off, looking up at her in concern.

"Are you alright?" She asked carefully.

"Yeah." Anna replied, looking down at her feet. "They're just a lot tighter than I thought they'd be."

"Don't worry, they're supposed to be that tight. But I can get you a size larger if you want." She offered, relaxing slightly.

"No way." Anna said, quickly dismissing the idea. "I just got these on and I am _not_ going through that entire process again!"

"Whatever you say." The employee said, shrugging her shoulders. "Do you need help standing up?"  
"Now look here," Anna said with false indignation. "I may not know how to put skates on but I'm definitely competent enough to stand on my ow…!" Anna's sentence was cut off as she immediately lost her balance and started to tumble to the ground. She swore she saw her life flash before her eyes before feeling a pair of arms stop her.

"You sure about that?" The girl asked, smirking as she lifted her into an upright position.

"Thanks for not letting me fall…uh," Anna deadpanned, realizing she didn't even know that girl's name. Looking down, she saw the girl wore a name plate on her left side. "Belle."

"No problem." She said, before being distracted by a text from her phone. Checking it, she sighed before putting it back in her pocket. "That's my boyfriend. He's wondering why I'm not out in the parking lot yet." She explained.

"It's cool." Anna said, before connecting the dots in her head. "Wait, are you not working right now?"

"I just clocked out when your friend called me over, but it's alright. I like helping people out." She said, sensing Anna was about to apologize for keeping her.

"Well then, thanks again for the help. I'm good now that I'm on my feet, so you can go ahead and get out of here." Anna said.

"You sure you're good?" Belle asked, giving her a disbelieving look.

"Yeah, Kris will probably be back soon anyway." She replied.

"Suit yourself. It was nice meeting you…?" Belle said, pausing as she waited for Anna to give her name.

"Anna. My name's Anna." She said.

"Well it was nice meeting you, Anna." Belle gave her one last smile before turning around and walking towards one of the exits. No sooner had she left that Anna felt and large hand on her shoulder, almost making her lose her balance and fall over again.

"Well, looks you've finally got some blades on." Kris said from beside her. "Now how 'bout we get them out onto the ice?"

"Might as well." Anna sighed in response, preparing herself for whatever fresh hell she was about to experience. Truth be told, at the end of the day the experience was nowhere near as bad as she dreaded it was going to be…it was far worse. The entire time her hand was in constant contact with Kristoff's shoulder. Any time she tried to take it off and skate on her own she ended up either face-first or ass-first on the ice, most of the time with Kristoff laughing at her misfortune above her. One time she actually fell caused him to fall to his knees in laughter, clutching his gut as tears fell from his eyes. By the end of the day she was pretty sure she had a bruised tailbone and at least three blisters on each foot. This was only confirmed as she pulled both the skates and her socks off to see the pale spots glaring angrily at her from the soles of her feet.

"Those seem pretty nasty." Kristoff said as he finished tying up his shoes, making appoint not to look directly at them. "You, ah, you need any help with them?"

"Nah." Anna said, carefully inspecting them. "I was a Venture Scout so I know how to handle these. Could you get an employee to grab me a First-Aid kit though?"

"You were a what?" Kristoff asked, not even hearing that last part.

"A Venture Scout." She said, glaring up at him. "It's like Boy Scouts, but co-ed. But that doesn't matter. All you need to know is that I know how to take care of these, but I _need _a First-Aid kit to do that."

"Right. First-Aid kit." He said, looking around for an employee but finding none in the empty room. "And when I get said employee to bring you said First-Aid kit, you won't need any help with that, will you? 'Cause you know I'm pretty squeamish when it comes to things like that."

"No, Kris." She said, rolling her eyes. "You don't have to stay. Like I said, I can handle it myself."

"Great." He said, relief flooding his features. "Now to find that employee." With that, he took off and left her alone in the room.

"God, I hate being the last one at a party." Anna said, taking in her lonely surroundings. By the time she had managed to actually get off the ice, everybody had already turned in their skates and were on their way out the door. At least Kristoff had offered to stay, but she knew if he did then the janitorial staff would have one hell of a mess to clean up.

"Excuse me?" A voice said, breaking her from her thoughts. Looking up, she saw a man standing there with a First-Aid kit in his hand. "Your friend said you needed this?"

"Yes." Anna said, happy to see the red tackle box the man was bringing over to her.

"He also said something about how you didn't need any help with this?" He asked, giving her a careful eye.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Feel free to leave if you want to, just leave the door locked and I'll close it when I'm done."

"Well thank you, ma'am." He said, placing the kit next to her. "But I was actually going to ask for you to not close the doors so as not to lock the other one in."

"Other one?" Anna asked, wondering what he was talking about.

"Yes." He answered simply. "We have a regular here who prefers to skate alone at night and she would probably appreciate it if you didn't force her to stay here for the night."

"Well," Anna said, slightly confused. "I'll be sure not to do that."

"Thank you. Feel free to leave the kit here for someone else to pick up." He said, before turning around and leaving.

"Thanks." Anna muttered, opening up the tackle-box and fishing around inside until she found the moleskin pads she was looking for. Quickly applying them to the blisters, she carefully pulled her socks on and tentatively stood up on them. Satisfied that the pads were keeping the pressure off the blisters, she slipped her shoes back on and grabbed her purse before heading out. As she came to the exit, though, her curiosity got the better of her and she began heading towards the rink. She wanted to at least see whoever it was that apparently skated her every night. Reaching the entrance to the large room, she strode in and stepped up onto the spectator's ledge. The second she did though, her jaw dropped in pure awe.

"E-Elsa?" she stuttered, not believing what she was seeing. Out there, on the ice, was Elsa herself. She wasn't just merely out on the ice, though. The way the platinum blonde was moving, Anna would've sworn that she was levitating over it and not gliding across it on the blades attached to her feet. Her movements were so effortless, so flawless, that all Anna could do was stand there frozen at the woman's natural talent.

_'She's amazing!'_ Anna thought to herself a she watched Elsa go up on one skate and bring her arms and legs in, initiating a spin that was fast enough to give her motion-sickness just watching it. Elsa then pulled out of the spin, moving across the rink with ever-increasing speed until she finally launched herself high into the air; spinning as she sailed through it and landing perfectly on one leg with her body parallel and other leg parallel to the ice, gliding backwards without a single wobble or tremble. She held this position for a few seconds before returning to an upright position and initiating another, slower spin and coming to a complete stop with a graceful pose to end her routine. It was only then that Anna realized that Elsa's eyes had been closed the entire time, and now they were both face-to-face with each other as the pale lids began to open.

_'Shit!'_ Anna thought, realizing she was about to be she could duck out of view, though, their eyes met and all Anna could do was stand there as Elsa's face went from a look of confusion to one of shock at realizing that she had unknowingly had an audience. Anna could immediately feel an amazing amount heat rush to her face in pure embarrassment and it took all of her willpower to rip her gaze away from Elsa's and rush out of the room as fast as she could. The entire way though, the only thing she could think about was how at peace Elsa had looked out on the ice. How…beautiful she had looked as she flew across it. The second the thought popped into her mind she shook away, not wanting to think about its implications as she rushed out the door and quickly got into her car.

Meanwhile, Elsa was still standing motionless out on the ice in shock. Out of all the people in the worldwho could've caught her in this private moment, it just had to be _her_. She slowly brought her hand up to her cheek, feeling the heat from the blush that was becoming ever present on her face. Unfortunately for her, that wasn't she only she felt though and she closed her eyes in annoyance as she skated to the exit of the rink, done for the night.

"Dammit." She muttered, cursing the two parts of her life that she now absolutely hated.


	3. Snowstorm

**Author's Note:** A quick thanks to the anonymous reviewer who identified themselves only as "Nommy". Your review was really helpful and it hit exactly on the point of why I started writing fanficiton in the first place. Looking back at some old fanfics I never posted I can definitely see that my writing style has gotten better, and it's because of reviews like yours that it has. Another shout-out to another anonymous reviewer who said this story took a "more mature approach to Elsa as a G!p character" and didn't make her a "socially stunted or inept character." This is what I was aiming for in this story and I'm glad you think I'm succeeding. And a final shout-out to all the others who have reviewed, followed, or favorite this story! You guys are the signals that someone actually likes to read the crap I right! To all those who like this story but haven't left a review, please do so, because it makes me all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Here's to hoping you all like this chapter as much (or more) than the last two!

**_UPDATE:_** I will not be able to post the fourth chapter of this story until after December 17th due to the fact that I am currently at Basic Training and am cut off from the rest of the world until then. I was able to type out half of the fourth chapter and will complete it as soon as I can once I get home. Sorry to have to keep you waiting until then, but I'm a little busy learning how to be a total badass Infantryman!

**Snowstorm**

_"Attention all customers. Attention all customers. Due to inclement weather conditions the store will be closing immediately. Any customer who is not in line at a register within five minutes will be denied the opportunity to check-out. I repeat, any customer who is not in line at a register within the next five minutes will be denied the opportunity to check-out. All register-trained employees must report to a register. Department Managers must shut down their departments. All other employees are required to clock-out and leave for the day."_

"Dammit!" Jack said after hearing the announcement. Anna looked over to the sixteen year old associate and saw his downcast face, immediately knowing what was wrong.

"They got you register-trained, didn't they?" She asked, feeling bad for the boy.

"They did it yesterday." He answered angrily. "And I only just got my provisional so I have no experience whatsoever driving I the snow. How the hell am I supposed to get home in the middle of a fuckin' blizzard!

_'No!' _Her common sense roared at her._ 'Don't you even think about it!'_

"Isn't there someone who could give you a ride?" She asked sympathetically.

"No one lives close enough and I'm not going to ask anyone to go out of their way in the middle of a blizzard just to get my sorry ass home."

_'Just leave! Wish him luck, close down the department, and LEAVE!'_

"Well…" She started.

_"What the hell are you doing!?'_

"…if that's the case…"

_'Don't. You. Dare.'_

"…I'll take the register. You go on and get home before it hits.

_'FUUUUUCK!_

"Really?" Jack asked, his eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and gratitude.

"Yeah." Anna said.

"Are you sure?" He said, his eyes now filling with worry. "I mean, it's not that I'm not grateful. I just don't want you getting stuck in a blizzard because of me."

"You just got trained yesterday. I'll be a lot faster at it than you will. Besides, I've got to close down the department anyway so I'll be stuck in it one way or another. No point in both of us getting caught." She said. She was about to list off another reason why he should go, but she didn't get the chance to as Jack hit her with the force of a line-backer and wrapped her up in a massive bear hug.

"Thank you so much, Anna!" He yelled, releasing her and beginning to turn down the aisle. "I swear I'm gonna' buy you, like, a shit ton of chocolate the next time we have a shift together!"

"Whatever," Anna said. "Now get the hell outta' here while you still have the chance."

"Yes, ma'am." He said, standing at attention and giving her a salute before turning on his heel and running to the backroom as fast as his legs would take him. Anna took a moment to stand there and curse her kind nature before rushing up to the front and finding an open register to man. No sooner had she opened it with her badge and turned the light on that a flood of customers with carts overstuffed with water bottles and canned goods came up the small aisle and began piling shit on the conveyer belt. Even though it had been months since she had had to work a register, her hands automatically flew into autopilot. Muscle memory guided them as they grabbed merchandise, swiped them across the scanner, stuffed them into bags, and repeated; eventually going through the process of totaling the customer's purchase and accepting whatever form of payment they offered.

Throughout the mayhem of it all, Anna's mind still found time to curse whoever thought it was a good idea to open the store today. Seriously! Who the hell wakes up in the morning, looks at the weather channel, sees evidence of one the worst blizzards to hit the area, and thinks 'Gee, today sure would be a great day to make the employees come into work so everybody and their mother can shop for a grand total of TWO HOURS before we'd be forced to close!? A nutjob, that's who! And Anna was ninety-nine percent sure she knew who that nutjob was. Fortunately, her mind didn't get far enough to actually think of said blue-eyed, platinum blonde person as a fight erupted in her aisle over a wayward can of lima beans.

People immediately scrambled away from the scuffling pair and relocated to other lines as fast as they could, wanting nothing other than to get out of the store. Anna was almost about to throw herself over the counter to get between the two customers before one of their security team members, Marsh, stepped in. Despite being Olaf's twin brother, he was a great deal larger and had no problem pulling them apart and escorting them out of the store without any of their merchandise. Meanwhile, Anna was left to clean up the mess in her aisle; the two men making sure to tip over their carts as they fought and make her day that much more shitty. Knowing no none would care, she hastily threw the items that had scattered across the floor into the two carts as fast as she could. Once she had managed to gather all the items into the two carts, she pushed them over to the closed-down customer service area all the way on the other side of the store. She grunted as she gave them one last push before leaving them there and turning around to return to her register.

To her relief, she glimpsed the last two customers leaving through the main exit and the two remaining registers lights going out; this meant that the only thing she had left to do was close down her department before being able to finally leave! She rushed through the now-empty store as quick as she could, envisioning what she was going to do when she got home, only to come to a halt about half-way through it as something strange began occurring within the store. Ever so slowly, it seemed as if the store was beginning to grow darker around her. Brows furrowing in confusion, she rubbed her eyes as if to clear them, but the store still kept growing darker. Thinking the lights were going out, she looked up, only to have a bolt of pure dread shoot down her spine. Above her, one of the skylights that were supposed to let in some of the sun's natural ambiance was becoming clouded over by a pure white substance.

"Shit!" Anna exclaimed, realizing the blizzard had begun. Taking off at an even greater speed than before, she reached her department in no time and hurriedly began shutting down the various displays stationed around it. As the last one's screen faded to black, she took one last look around to make sure everything was as it should be. She was almost ready bolt to the time-punch and clock out when she noticed one of the glass cabinets had been left half-open. Glad she had noticed it when she did, she rushed over to it and grabbed the handle to push it closed. Expecting to slide smoothly as it normally did, she was surprised when she was met with resistance. Looking at it in pure disbelief, she tried to push it again to only be met with the same stubborn resistance.

"No." She said softly, moving around to its front and checking the tracks it ran on for any obstructions. Not finding any, she tried pulling it closed with no avail. "No. No! NO!" She shouted as she viciously began tugging on it in an attempt to force it closed. Truthfully, she could just leave the cabinet open, but if some looters took advantage of the storm to break into the store and successfully stole the items in it then it would be her fault. Management would find out about how she had left it open, about how she had taken up Jack's responsibility on the register when it was none of her concern. They would link that with her inability to close to panel, saying that if she hadn't worked the register she would've had the time to figure out the problem and close it properly. At that point her termination with the store would be nothing short of certain, which was why she was struggling so hard to get the panel to close; hard enough that she could feel tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes as she began to realize that she couldn't do it. Just as she was about to give up though, and leave her future employment up to chance, a ray of hope burst through to her in the form of a voice.

"Anna?" Called a familiar voice at the end of the aisle.

"Elsa!?" She exclaimed, eyes falling upon the woman in complete shock. "What are you still doing here!?"

"I was just about to leave when I saw your Beetle was still parked outside." She explained, confusion evident in her voice. "What are you still doing here?"

"The damned panel won't close!" She answered, emotion filling her voice. Elsa took one look at the panel before recognizing Anna's problem instantly and rushing over to help her, taking up position behind the handle to push as Anna pulled.

"Together." She said simply, determination filling her eyes. Anna nodded once to show she understood before pulling on the handle. At the same time Elsa pushed against it, both of the two females letting out grunts of frustration as the panel still refused to budge. Eventually the both stopped, letting out the breaths they had been holding.

"Again." Anna said, Elsa being the one to nod this time before setting her feet in an attempt to get better leverage. Anna did the same, making sure she had a good grip on the floor with her sneakers before giving Elsa another nod. Once again, the two pushed and pulled with all their might, their faces slowly turning red as blood rushed to their heads from the effort they were putting out. Small grunts began once again began to escape from their lips at their strain, but both refused to quit. It was only until their strength was about to run out that the panel gave, the sudden movement almost sending the both of them to the ground. Their grip on the door saved them though, and they managed to avoid tumbling together in a larger heap.

"MOTHERFUCKER, YES!" Anna yelled, not caring that Elsa was standing right next to her. Elsa didn't seem to care either, not saying anything about her choice in language as she closed the panel fully and shoved her key in to lock it. "Now let's get the hell outta' here!"

Elsa only nodded, turning to run with her as they wove through the aisles and into the backroom. She could see the exit that led out to the employee parking lot when Anna's footsteps, which had been close behind her the entire time, stopped suddenly. Coming to a halt, Elsa looked be to see Anna swiping her badge through the time-punch.

"What are you doing!?" She yelled to her in an exasperated tone, running back to her.

"I haven't punched out yet!" Anna yelled back as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"This is no time to be following the rules to the letter!" She said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down the hall at break-neck speed. Anna could barely keep herself from tripping over her own feet, surprised by such an assertive move from her store manager.

"Wait, my purse!" Anna yelled as they flew by the lockers. "I have to get my purse! My keys are in it!"

"No time!" Elsa yelled back, almost at the door now. "I'll give you a ride myself! My car will handle the snow a lot better than yours will!"

Anna really didn't want to leave her stuff here, especially her precious VW, but Elsa's logic made too much sense and she knew she'd have a better chance of getting home in Elsa's Allroad than in her small Beetle. Instead, she focused on not crashing to the ground as Elsa dragged her down the final sixty feet to the door. When they reached it, Elsa stopped to give Anna a chance to regain her footing and catch their breaths. Refilling their lungs with air, they both looked at each other in determination.

"Ready?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah." Anna replied, giving her a nod and bracing her shoulder against the metal door, knowing it was going to be tough to push open. Elsa nodded back, putting her own shoulder against the door and shouting "Now!" Simultaneously, the both put their full weight against the door and feeling a frigid blast of wind hit them as it came open. The sudden cold shocked their systems but they both kept pushing, the door resisting as it tried to move through the snow that had piled up in front of it. Heaving with all their might, enough space eventually opened up for the two women to fit through; Anna going through first with Elsa close on her heels. The second they got through though, they were both immediately hit by even colder gusts of wind and enough flying snow to immediately make them look like they had taken a rough tumble down a ski slope.

"Jesus!" Anna yelled, barely hearing her own voice over the wind as she used her arm to block her face. "Was it this bad when you came back in for me!?"

"No!" Elsa yelled back, her voice sounding like it was a mile away as she locked the door. "It's gotten worse! We need to get to my car now!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" Anna replied, squinting her eyes against the wind and barely finding the flash of red that signaled Elsa's Audi though the massive amount of snow in the air. "C'mon!" She yelled, waving her had in the direction of the car. Both woman began fighting their way against the wind, each step becoming harder than the last one as they struggled to pull their feet out of the steadily-increasing amount of snow on the ground. It was when the two were halfway to their destination that a powerful gust of wind swept in. Elsa was able to brace herself against it by bringing both of her arms up in front of her and leaning into the wind as far as she could, Anna was not so lucky though. She had been in the middle of wrenching her foot out of the snow and had only been standing on one leg when the gust came in. Caught in such an unforgivable position, she could do nothing but scream as the wind pushed her to the ground.  
"ANNA!" Elsa yelled as she watched the redhead fall over and disappear under the thick layer of snow. Rushing over as fast as she could, which was no more than a crawl at this point, she arrived to find her almost completely curled up into a ball and feebly using her hands to try and push herself up off the ground. Wrapping her arms around the girl, Elsa could immediately feel how soaked Anna's clothes had become in the time they had been out there and how violently the girl was beginning to shiver. Dread began to hover over her like a rain cloud, only to solidify into a stone in the pit of her stomach as she turned the girl over in her arms to see the bluish hue her lips had become. Anna was falling into hypothermia. Elsa looked up and frantically searched for her car, dismay filling her entire being as she found it and saw that they had only made it about halfway there despite the fact that it felt like they had been struggling for an eternity.

_'We're not going to make it.' _ Elsa thought, the realization hitting her like a punch in the gut. She wanted to cry. All she wanted to do was lay down on the ground and let the tears flow. But the feeling of Anna shivering and helpless in her arms was stopping her. She couldn't be weak now. Not when someone else needed her to be strong. Now when Anna needed to her to be strong. Steeling herself, she wrapped her arms under Anna's and pulled the limp girl up. Taking one last look at her car, she set her mouth in a grim line and began dragging Anna back towards the store. The trip was a little easier due to the fact that she was no longer fighting the wind and she was now walking through the path her and Anna had made, but not by much. Anna's extra weight made it difficult and by the time she reached the door she was exhausted, her breathing ragged and her own body beginning to shiver.

Keeping ahold of Anna with one arm, she dug the other into her jacket pocket and pulled out her master key. It took her a few attempts to get the key into the hole with her numb and shaking fingers, but she was eventually able to. As soon as she unlocked the door she put the keys back in her pocket and grabbed the handle, grunting with the effort of trying to force it back open. Last time it had taken both of their combined efforts to get the door to open enough to get through. Now it was just her and she had less than half the strength that she had before. Regardless, she refused to give in; almost screaming in exertion as she pulled the door open inch by inch. Once it was open enough, she dragged Anna through and let the wind blow the door shut with a loud _BANG!_

Now that they were both out of the raging storm, all Elsa wanted to do was collapse and enjoy the feeling of not being assaulted on every side by wind and ice. Instead, she stayed on her feet and continued dragging Anna to the nearest office she could find. Fishing the keys out once again, she unlocked the door and stumbled in. Not bothering to retrieve the keys, she hauled Anna up and sat the shivering girl down in one of the high-backed rollers.

"Anna." She said softly, kneeling down in front of her and tapping her lightly on the cheek. Fear began to rise in her when she didn't answer. "Anna, can you hear me?"

"C-c-c-c-c-c-cold" The redhead said, causing Elsa's fear to dissipate slightly.

"I know it is." She replied. "But I need you to listen to me. You've gone into hypothermia. We need to get you dry and into some warm clothes or your body temperature is going to continue to drop and it's going to get even worse. Do you understand?"  
"Y-y-y-y-y-y-yes." Anna replied, managing to nod despite how hard she was shivering.

"Good." Elsa said, happy that Anna was actually coherent enough to understand what she was saying. "Now, I'm going to leave to go get you a towel and some dry clothes. While I'm doing that, I need you to try and get as much of your clothes off as you can. Can you do that?"

"S-s-s-s-s-sure." Anna said, giving her a small and shaky thumbs up before grabbing the sleeve of her shirt and beginning to pull at it. Elsa gave her an encouraging smile before standing up and rushing out to grab the items she needed. As she ran, she pulled her phone out and opened it to dial 911 and try to get them to send some EMTs to the store and get Anna the proper help she needed. She had dialed the first two numbers and was about to hit the final one when she saw the small "X" over the phone signal icon. Almost throwing the now useless object in frustration, she sighed and resigned herself to the fact she was going to have to do this on her own.

Within three minutes she had acquired one of the plushest towels the bath department had to offer, a hoodie, and a pair of fluffy sweat pants for Anna to wear; she had even managed to replace her own damp clothes for some dry ones before returning. As she rushed back, a thought hit her and she quickly detoured thorough the Homelines department to grab a blanket and small pillow. With those now in hand, she ran back to the office and was happy to see Anna had successfully managed to remove most of her clothing; the only articles left being her bra and panties. Fighting off the flush that was rising in her cheeks at seeing Anna like this, Elsa dropped everything she had in her hands except the towel and quickly threw it over her. She began to run it up and down Anna's body as fast as she could, both to get the girl dry and to generate as much heat as she could for the redhead. Once she was sure she had gotten her as dry and she possibly could, she inevitably came to the part of this procedure that she had been avoiding.

"Anna…" She started slowly, nervous about how the girl was going to take this. "I-I know this is indecent to ask, but I'm going to have to ask you to take your underwear off. They're still wet and your recovery will be much slower if you don't take them off too."

She waited for the incredulous look. The refusal to be fully undressed while she was in the same room as her. Instead, surprise filled her as she saw Anna begin to reach behind herself to unclasp her bra. As she did, the towel came dangerously close to falling open and Elsa quickly grabbed it so that Anna would remain covered. It took a few moments, but Elsa finally heard the last snap become undone and a slight 'splat' sound as the damp undergarment hit the floor. Her panties followed soon after that, Anna stepping out of them and kicking them away. Elsa sighed, glad that Anna was being so obedient and hoping that she would remain so.

"Okay." She said, holding the shivering girl at arm's length and looking her in the eyes. "I need you to grab the towel and hold it yourself. Got it?"

"Y-y-y-yeah." Anna said, her arms moving under the towel before her fingers appeared over the edges and grasped the fabric.

"Good." Elsa said, holding onto her shoulders. "Now, I'm going to need you to do your best not to freak out on me."

Anna's face twisted in confusion and she was about to try to ask Elsa what she meant, but before she could Elsa forced her arms open and stepped right up to her; their bodies pressing closely against each other as Elsa wrapped her up in a tight hug. Anna's mind immediately went in a million different directions at the sensation, the most prominent out of all of them though was the indescribable amount of heat she now felt. The amount of pleasure she was receiving from all the heat was definitely far too much to be called innocent, and she almost let herself fall into the haze that was building in her mind before she realized that Elsa had begun talking again.

"I know this is weird." She said. "But my body heat is the fastest way to warm you up safely. If we tried anything else, your body temperature might rise too quickly and you could go into shock. If that happens you would be in serious danger of losing your life, so I'm going to need you to bear with me on this, okay?"

Anna could hear the nervousness in Elsa's voice and realized that she was going through the same things as her. Well, maybe not the pleasurable heat part, but that was something she shouldn't be going through either. The thought calmed her down and she slowly wrapped her own arms around Elsa, the hug being a sign that she fully understood. Elsa sighed in relief at this, knowing they had just taken a big step in averting what could've ended up being a major crisis. They stayed like that for a while in silence, both trying to keep improper thoughts from entering their minds; and as the minutes passed by, Anna's shivering began dying down as her body temperature climbed back to normal levels. Eventually, it got the point where Anna finally felt like she had enough control to form complete sentences.

"E-Elsa?" She tried, happy that she only stuttered once.

"Yeah?" She replied, just as happy at Anna's progress.

"I-I'm really t-tired."

"I bet you are." Elsa said as she unlatched her arms and pulled away from Anna, who quickly closed the towel so as not to be seen naked. "But you're going to have to put some clothes on first."

"D-definitely." Anna said, grinning before looking around as finding the clothes Elsa had dropped. Moving over to them, she gave Elsa a look that clearly said something along the lines of 'Turn around'. Elsa smiled before appeasing her and turning around. She tried to keep the wrong thoughts away as she heard Anna drop the towel behind her and begin to put on the clothes. She only turned around when Anna told her she was decent and saw that she had also grabbed the blanket and pillow from the floor and was moving to other chair in the room that wasn't damp.

"Do you want something better to sleep on?" She asked, concern evident in her voice.

"Nah." Anna said breathily, a yawn almost escaping her lips as she placed the pillow and curled herself up into the chair. "I could use some help with the blanket though."

"Of course." Elsa said, grabbing it and placing it snugly over her.

"Thanks." She yawned, looking up at her as her eyes began to close.

"No problem." Elsa replied. That was the last thing Anna heard before falling asleep, the last thing she saw being Elsa's smile and her ice-blue eyes.

The feelings of the world slowly began to return to Anna as she began to awaken from her dreamless slumber. Opening her eyes, she let out a loud yawn and stretched both her arms and her legs out. All the feelings of being cold had disappeared and she was now thoroughly enjoying the sensation of being warm, silently promising to never take that feeling for granted again. Looking around, saw that Elsa had taken the liberty of grabbing her a complete set of clothes including a new shirt, jeans, thick wool socks, and (most importantly) a new set of underwear. Smiling at the gesture, Anna quickly got up and changed into the new clothes; discarding the hoodie and sweats on the chair that had previously been her bed. Stretching out once again, she slowly began to feel as if something were off. Looking around, she realized that the room was somehow brighter than when she had fallen asleep. Confused, she looked up to see that the overhead lights were on.

_'So we still have electricity, huh?' _Anna thought, remembering that the store got its electricity though underground power lines rather than overhead ones. _'Well, at least one thing doesn't totally suck.' _With that thought she left the office, looking both ways for any sign of where Elsa had gone. The lights weren't on in the hallway, but that played to her advantage as she saw a pillar of light streaking out of the employee lounge across the floor. Deciding that was the best place to start, she quickly made her way to it. Poking her head in, she was met with the sight of Elsa standing in front of the stove and two paper plates set on the table with plastic cups and cutlery. She was also met with the sound and smell of meat cooking on the stove. It was only then that Anna realized her stomach felt sinfully empty, a loud gurgle emphasizing the point. Eager for food, she bounded into the lounge and quickly took a seat in front of one of the plates.

"Hey, Elsa!" She said happily.

"Hello." Elsa said in a neutral tone, barely glancing back at her.

_'Well…that's weird.'_ Anna thought. "So what's cooking?" She asked in the same happy manner.

"Sausage." Elsa said succinctly. "You need to eat something warm."

_'Oh, no.' _Anna thought, slowly beginning to realize what was happening. _'No, not this crap again.'_ She was about to say something else in the hopes of delaying the inevitable, but Elsa was already putting the sausages on a plate and walking over to the table with them and a jug of water in hand. Placing both of them in the center of table, she sat down and grabbed one of the sausages without saying a word. Anna sighed sadly in defeat before grabbing the other sausage and beginning to cut into forlornly. _'Looks like Elsa's back to her normal, Ice Queen self.'_

They sat there as they ate in silence for a while, the occasional sound of a cup being refilled with water being the only thing that broke it. Anna tried to enjoy the sausage as she chewed. It really was quite delicious, but she couldn't come to appreciate it as her mind was too busy thinking of possible reasons why Elsa would've reverted back to her old self. Taking her last bite of sausage, she put her utensils down and gulped down the last of her water in her cup before crossing her arms and waiting for Elsa to finish. She really was a slow eater, Anna observed, her approach almost surgical in the way she cut into the piece of meat in exact distances and producing the equally-sized portions each time. Finally, after watching Elsa go through the same routine over and over again, Anna had enough. She had been thinking of multiple different watch to approach topic before deciding the best way to do it was to dive directly in.

"Elsa?" She said softy, looking straight at the woman across from her.

"Yes." Elsa said in the same neutral tone, taking a drink of water from her cup.

"Why do you dislike me?" She asked. As soon as the words left her mouth Elsa's eyes widened and she almost spit out the water that was in her throat. Forcing herself to swallow the liquid, she coughed a few times before looking at her.

"What do you mean?" She asked, confusion filling her features.

"What do you mean 'what do I mean'?" Anna said, her voice raising. "Elsa, this morning was the longest interaction you and I have had since you've arrived here and it took a freakin' blizzard and me almost coming close to losing my life for it to happen!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Anna." Elsa said, hoping the girl would calm down.

"Don't know what I'm talking about!?" Anna yelled, becoming anything but calm. "You've had meetings with every department manager in this store! Every one of them except for me! We've only had one real conversation and that was back when you'd only been here for a week!"

"You're taking that the wrong way…" Elsa started, only to be cut off before she could continue.

"How the hell am I supposed to take it then!?" Anna yelled, now stating to stand up from her seat. "This is only the third time we've ever been face-to-face with each other, which leads me to believe that you're trying to avoid having any contact with me! And that's telling me that I've obviously done something to make you dislike me! Am I right!?"  
"No." Elsa said, now looking away from Anna. "That's not it."

"Then what is it!?" Anna yelled.

"It's just…" Elsa stared, eyes now closed.

"Just, what!?"

"You, you just…"

"I, what!?"

"You remind me of someone!" Elsa yelled angrily, standing up and staring Anna straight in the face. As soon as she did though, the anger in her eyes faded and she looked away. Anna, on the other hand, felt her own anger being replaced with surprise at finally getting a straight answer out of her.

"I-I remind you of someone?" She asked tentatively.

"Yes. Well, no." Elsa said. "You remind me of both someone and something."

"I remind of someone and something?" Anna parroted, confusion now filling her features. "You're not making any sense here, Elsa."

"I know I'm not. It's just…" Elsa started, sighing as she put her face in her hand and shook her head. She took a deep breath before gathering her thoughts and starting again. "Whenever I see you, you constantly remind me of something I _want_ to forget. And every time I think of that something, it reminds me of someone I'd _like _to forget. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah," Anna said after a moment. "I guess it kinda' does. But if that's the case, then let me ask you something."

"Yes?" Elsa said, looking back to her.

"How is that fair to me?" Anna asked, stepping closer. "I mean, I'm not that something or that someone. I'm Anna. A klutzy, rambling, redhead who randomly got promoted to department manager out of the blue at a job she used to hate on the day she was going to resign by a woman she barely knew."

"You hated this job?" Elsa asked, eyes widening in surprise.

"Yes." Anna said. "I hated this job like nothing else when Weselton was running it. I didn't think anything could change this store and was perfectly happy to just leave and watch it crumble from the outside. But then you came along and did the one thing I thought was totally impossible. You not only made this store better by far, you made this job enjoyable for me. You were so strong and smart that I couldn't help but admire you, and when you ignored and avoided me it made me feel like an enigma; like you didn't want me here for some reason I couldn't understand. Like you were shutting the door on me because I did something wrong that I couldn't remember"

Elsa brought her hand up to her mouth, speechless as Anna finished and dropped her arms at her sides. She couldn't believe what Anna had just revealed to her and she felt tears building behind her eyes as she realized what her actions had been doing to the poor girl. Blinking rapidly, she shook her head and drew in a deep breath to dispel them.

"You're right." She started, looking away from her. "It's not fair. You're not someone I want to forget, and I shouldn't have treated you like you were. It was selfish, and rude, and wrong, and I'm so sorry I made you feel like that."

"It's okay." Anna said softly after a moment, stepping up to her and grabbing her shoulder. "I understand. I really do."

"Can you forgive me?" Elsa asked, meeting Anna's teal eyes.

"Under one condition." Anna said, holding up her finger. "You never go back to being the Ice Queen everyone knows you by. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Elsa said after a slight pause, smiling down at her.

"Good." Anna said, letting go of her shoulder and holding her arms open. "Hug?"

"Hug." Elsa said, wrapping her arms around the girl. They both stood there, enjoying the moment in silence before Anna spoke up again.

"Hey, Elsa?" She asked, still keeping her arms wrapped around her.

"Yes." Elsa replied quizzically.

"I'm glad we're friends now." She said, tightening the hug a tiny bit.

_'Oh, Anna.' _Elsa thought, almost allowing herself to get lost in the warmth of the smaller girl. _'If only you knew.'_


End file.
